Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Just developed my first roll of b/w film in... years?! Yes, the bug has bitten me again. So I took stock of my chemicals the other day and found that most were dated 2008, and one was dated 2004. Not good! (As a rule, I put masking tape on my bottles with the month and year of mixing it, or write it on the label if it's pre-mixed. It doesn't last forever, especially the developer. Fixer lasts a little longer.)

Luckily I did have one packet each left of Kodak fixer, developer and hypo clear in the drawer, and made all new batches after cleaning out the bottles. Then I developed the roll of film I had from my Konica T-3 that I finished shooting last fall -- I had found it with film in it from I'm not sure when! All shot with my very cool Konica mount Sigma 35mm lens. We'll see how it turns out when I scan the negs.

my notes - yikes!

While refreshing my chemicals and prepping the darkroom I found my well-used development notes, the ones I pieced together from various sources and modified through trial and error like any good recipe. Decided I'd type them up and print them so I can actually read them this time around!

Was surprised that I remembered how to load the developing tank reel in the dark -- guess I've had more practice at that than I thought. Again, the important thing is knowing where everything is (bottle opener, scissors, tank) so you're not fumbling in the dark. It wasn't all quite like riding a bicycle, but it came back pretty quickly, especially the smell of the chemicals. You develop a fondness for them, somehow. So to speak.

This time around I'll be scanning the negs instead of printing them, and uploading them to flickr after flipping them in Photoshop. Coming soon!

Sunday, May 01, 2011

Vivian Maier's work was discovered at auction in Chicago after her death in 2009. She was a nanny who was also a prolific street photographer, and as you'll see, was a talent on par with Weegee, Weston, and Imogen Cunningham. Amazing photos. Two links to her work: